Labour Party declares it is not fielding any candidate ahead of 2019

macfranc007 October 17, 2018 Nigeria News today & Breaking news ▷ Read Naija news 24/7 Eromosele Ebhomele

- The Labour Party says it has no candidate for any political positions in the forthcoming 2019 general election

- Barr Ebere Ifendu, the party's publicity secretary, says the political organisation has no National Working Committee

- Ifendu also explains details of the crisis that has overtaken the party

The Labour Party (LP) has declared that it is not fielding any candidate for any elective position in the forthcoming election.

The party, according to the Nigerian Tribune, said the decision follows the position on a subsisting court order as well as the fact that the tenure of the present National Working Committee (NWC) expired on October 10.

The party does not have any existing national chairman and national secretary.

At a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday, October 16, the publicity secretary of the party, Barr Ebere Ifendu, accused the chairman of INEC, Prof Mahmoud Yakubu, of conniving with the former head of the LP, Alhaji Abdulkadir Salam, and interfering in its affairs.

He said this was affecting the smooth running of the party.

“I am repeating it again LP cannot field candidates for the elections in 2019 reason being that the tenure of the present National Working Committee of the party has expired on October 10.

“There is no existing national chairman and national secretary of Labour Party as we speak,” she said.

She condemned Salam for gathering some people in Minna, Niger state recently and claiming he was holding a NEC meeting.

She said: “Article 13 (2) A, explicitly spells out the composition of the party’s national executive councils members. among the persons on the lists are the presidents and general secretaries of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), and Trade Union Congress (TUC).

“None of these constitutional members of the organ were in attendance nor represented. That clearly shows that the purported NEC meeting has nothing to do with the Labour Party whatsoever.

“On the second of October 2018, INEC had written to the party to comply with the order of the Abuja division of the Federal High Court to conduct an all-inclusive national convention involving all parties covered by the terms of the settlement filed on 14th March, 2018. The letter is very explicit on the action to take, elongation of tenure and suspension of National Working Committee members are not part of the order of the court.

“Of great concern to us is the fact that he claimed to have suspended 8 members of the National Working Committee.”

She argued that with the end of the tenure of the executive and in compliance with the court order, the Labour Party has no National working committee in place.

“This clearly means that any nomination of candidate done by the party after 11th October 2018 is null and void and it will be in contempt of the court order.

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“We want to also use this medium to warn INEC, especially the chairman Prof Mahmoud Yakubu, and Mrs Babalola director Legal to desist from conniving with Salam and the acting secretary, Julius Abure as we will no longer tolerate their unnecessary and biased interference in Labour Party affairs,” she added.

She stated that a 7-man committee is being constituted to oversee the activities of the party and midwife the all-inclusive Convention in accordance with the court order. She explained that this process is expected to be concluded within the next 30 days.

NAIJ.com earlier reported that Olusegun Mimiko, the former governor of Ondo state, announced his decision to contest the 2019 presidency on the platform of the Labour Party (LP).

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